by Lucas Flint
“You didn’t ‘leave’ the NHA like I did,” said Triplet. “You betrayed us and became a supervillain, one I did my best to put behind bars.”
Phaser chuckled. “You assume I was ever really a ‘superhero’ in the first place. No, I always intended to use the NHA for my own purposes. But I’m surprised to hear that you quit. I thought you were a proud card-carrying member of the organization.”
“My reasons for quitting are my own,” Triplet replied. “I want to know how you came back to life. Did Longworth pull a Frankenstein and steal your body from its mausoleum and bring it back to life?”
“How unoriginal,” said Phaser. “Which I am surprised to hear because I always took you for a clever one. My dear brother didn’t bring me back to life like that. No, his way was much better, although he did have to steal my body from my mausoleum anyway in order to pull it off.”
“Robbing it from the back door?” I questioned.
Phaser smiled. “You saw that? I suppose someone would. You see, we always planned to bring me back to life, but it wasn’t until recently that the technology necessary to do so was perfected. That’s why I had my brother build a back door in my mausoleum after my death, so he could always access it when he needed it.”
“You mean this plan has been in the making for nearly four years?” said Triplet in shock.
“Much longer than that, I’m afraid,” said Phaser. He rolled his shoulders. “I will admit, though, that I am still getting used to being alive again. The human body can be a bit stiff sometimes, which is why I’ve taken up yoga, although I’m not very good at it just yet.”
“I don’t care how you came back to life,” said Strike. He tried to stand up, but he had to lean on me again for support, probably because he was still under the effects of the poison. “Your second life is going to be even shorter than the first if you don’t tell me where Dizzy is.”
Phaser frowned. “Dizzy? I have no idea who you’re talking about. Have superhero names really gotten that lame since my death?”
“Says the guy whose name sounds like it came straight out of Star Trek,” I said.
Phaser put his hands on his chest. “I am offended, good sir, by your dig at Star Trek. The admirable Captain Kirk and his crew don’t deserve scorn from a kid like you. Besides, your name isn’t much better, Bolt.”
“How do you know my name?” I said.
Phaser waved his hands at me like I had just asked a dumb question. “I know all of your names because we’ve been watching you ever since you got here. Anyway, aren’t you Genius’s son?”
“Yeah, I am,” I said. “What of it?”
Phaser chuckled again, but more darkly than before. “Then I’m going to take even more pleasure in killing you because your father was always one of my least favorite superheroes. He never liked me even before I betrayed the organization. Perhaps he saw through my lies.”
“I’m sure he did,” said Triplet. “Now, why are you here? Did you come to kill us?”
Phaser ran a hand through his crazy hair. “Kill you? Don’t be so uncouth. I saw what you did to my brother’s creations. I would never dream of trying to kill you three. No, instead I’m here to make you an offer you can’t refuse.”
“And you sound like a used car salesman, too,” I observed. “You just keep getting better and better.”
“I did sell used cars before I got my powers, though,” said Phaser, putting his hands on his hips. “Used car salesmen are perhaps the most unjustly maligned profession in the entire world. No one knows just how much we suffer thanks to the unfair stereotyping we have to live with every day.”
“Who cares?” I said. “If you’re not going to kill us, then what is your offer? And why should we listen to it? Three against one. We could overwhelm you if you want.”
Phaser smiled. He gestured at his chest. “You saw how Triplet unloaded on me. Each and every bullet passed safely through my chest. I didn’t even feel it. If you want to try punching me, go ahead, but it will just be a big waste of time for all of us.”
“He’s right,” said Triplet begrudgingly. “If Phaser still has the same powers that he did before he died, then that means he’s basically untouchable. I doubt even your lightning powers could harm him.”
“See?” said Phaser. “Listen to your elders. It just might save your life.”
I bit my lower lip, but I sensed that Triplet was right. If even bullets couldn’t kill him, then my fists had no chance of landing a solid hit on him. All we could do at this point was listen to his ‘offer,’ whatever that was, and keep our guard up in case he tried anything.
“All right,” I said. “Tell us your offer. We’re listening.”
Phaser rubbed his hands together excitedly. “Oh, joy! I was worried you might try to attack me anyway. I mean, it would have been amusing to watch, but it would have also been a waste of time, as I said.”
I scowled. “Talk. Or else we’re going back the way we came.”
“Okay, okay,” said Phaser, holding up his hands. “Now, it’s obvious that you three are trying to find out exactly what my dear brother is doing here. You’ve no doubt seen all of his cyborg animals, which are quite ugly things if I do say so myself, but that’s not the point.”
“They’re abominations is what they are,” said Triplet.
“For once, I agree with you,” said Phaser. “But you need to understand that my dear brother isn’t the mad scientist you think he is. He has a true heart for the suffering that people all over the world experience. He hates disease and how it harms and kills the body.”
“He’s got a funny way of showing it,” I shot back. “Sending his deranged beasts to hunt down people in his own personal maze doesn’t seem like something a doctor would do.”
“He brought me back to life,” said Phaser. Then he shrugged. “Well, he had help, anyway. But the point is, my brother doesn’t see any need for you to die. He needs your help.”
I raised an eyebrow. “If he needed our help, he could have just asked.”
Phaser shrugged again. “My brother sometimes has problems communicating what he wants. Really, though, he’s a good boy, despite all that.”
“Get to the point,” said Strike. “What does he need our ‘help’ with?”
Phaser put his hands together in a delighted way. “I am glad you asked! You see, my brother is attempting to discover the secret to eternal life. And he believes the secret lies in the neogene.”
“The neogene?” I said. “It doesn’t exist. Neogenetics is a lot more complicated than just a single gene.”
“You know what I mean,” said Phaser, waving off my statement. “I mean that he believes neogenetics could unlock the key to not merely resurrection, but eternal life itself.”
“Is that why he’s been kidnapping superhuman girls?” said Strike. “To experiment on them and find out what makes them tick?”
“As always, it’s more complicated than that, but that’s as much as I am allowed to share,” said Phaser. He held out a hand toward us. “If you come with me and agree to be part of my brother’s experiments, then not only will you help him discover the secret to eternal life, but you will also be guaranteed eternal life yourself.”
“And what if we don’t come with you?” I said.
Amusement flashed in Phaser’s eyes. “When did I say you had a choice?”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Phaser’s last sentence was ominous, but I didn’t see how he could force us to go with him. He was just one guy. True, his powers were fairly useful, but I didn’t think he could capture us. The only reason Phaser’s threat could mean anything was if he was not actually alone. That was a real possibility, but I doubted it myself because I didn’t sense anyone else around other than him. Still, I knew better than to let my guard down around someone like him. And I also knew better than to accept his deal, because in my experience, supervillains rarely ever upheld their end of the deal. It was in their nature.
“Sorry, Phaser,
but we’re not interested,” I said. “Even if your brother is trying to discover the secret to eternal life, that doesn’t justify kidnapping a bunch of innocent girls to perform all sorts of gruesome experiments on. Or trapping us down here and expecting his pets to tear us apart.”
“I agree with Bolt,” said Triplet. “Do you really think any of us are dumb enough to fall for such an obvious trick? I knew you were never the brightest villain, Phaser, but I see that your resurrection must have taken a few IQ points off your total.”
“I was smart enough to fool the entire NHA for years,” Phaser returned. “You might want to think about what you say. Don’t want to accidentally make out all your old friends to be a bunch of idiots.”
“We’re still not agreeing to your demands,” I said. “So you can go and take your offer back to Longworth and—”
“If I go with you, will I get to see Dizzy again?” asked Strike.
Triplet and I both looked at Strike in bewilderment when he said that, but Strike wasn’t looking at us. He was looking at Phaser, his eyes locked onto the supervillain with a mixture of hope and curiosity in his minds.
“Well, I don’t know if Dizzy is among the girls my dear brother kidnapped,” said Phaser. “But if she is here, then sure, I can take you to her.”
“Strike, what are you doing?” I said. “You don’t seriously believe him, do you?”
“Not exactly, but …” Strike shrugged. “I want to save Dizzy more than anything. If going with Phaser could help me find her, well—”
“Phaser is a liar,” said Triplet. “Even if he isn’t lying, I wouldn’t trust Longworth to experiment upon me after seeing the results of his experiments down here.”
“My brother won’t turn you into a cyborg if that’s what you’re worried about,” said Phaser. He put his hands together. “He won’t do anything to you at all, actually. He’ll simply use your DNA to help us better understand the human body and how to achieve immortality. That’s all.”
Worryingly, I could see that Strike was actually listening to Phaser. He seemed to be becoming more and more convinced by Phaser’s arguments. I knew Strike cared deeply about Dizzy and all, but I wasn’t about to let him go along with Phaser by himself. Phaser came across as genuine, but a part of me was afraid that Phaser was lying or omitting critical information. After all, he was famous for fooling the entirety of the NHA into letting him join the organization, despite not being a superhero. If he could fool the NHA, then he could fool anyone.
“Sorry, but we’re not interested,” I said. I waved a hand at Phaser. “Instead, I’d like to counter your offer with a few demands of my own.”
Phaser raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And what might those be?”
I began counting my demands with my fingers. “First, take us to your brother, wherever he is. Second, tell him we want nothing to do with whatever dumb experiments he’s running. And third, release all of the kidnapped girls, including Dizzy, and let us take you back to Ultimate Max, where a criminal like you belongs.”
Phaser laughed. “Ha! You have a far better sense of humor than that old stick in the mud Genius ever did.”
“I’m serious,” I said.
Phaser laughed again. “’I’m serious,’ he says! Ha!”
“The kid is serious, though,” said Triplet, putting one hand on his hip, while the other hand held his gun. “And I second all of his demands.”
Suddenly, Phaser’s amused smirk vanished, replaced by a cold frown that sent chills up my spine. “I see. Well, even without speaking to my brother, I can already tell he will not honor, much less listen to, your demands.”
“Then we won’t honor your demands, either,” I said. “So either get out of our way and let us find a way out of here ourselves or get ready to have your skull cracked.”
Phaser shook his head. “Personally, I choose the third option.”
“Third option?” I repeated. “What third option? I only gave you two?”
A dangerous glint in Phaser’s eyes shone. “The third option is where I beat all three of you to a pulp and drag you half-dead back to my brother. He said he wanted you alive. He didn’t say you needed to be conscious.”
Phaser suddenly became transparent and fell through the floor out of sight. Triplet aimed his gun at him, but Phaser’s grinning face disappeared before he could fire, leaving the three of us standing all alone in the tunnel.
“Dang it,” said Triplet, lowering his gun. “We shouldn’t have let him get away. Once he starts phasing through solid objects, he’s nearly impossible to stop.”
“But there’s got to be some way to beat him, right?” I said, looking around the tunnel for Phaser, although I didn’t see him anywhere. “Brains killed him, didn’t he? So he’s not invincible.”
“Didn’t Brains tell you how he killed him?” Triplet said. He tapped the side of his head. “Used his telepathy to tear apart Phaser’s mind and crush his brain. As it turns out, Phaser’s powers still leave his mind quite vulnerable to mental attacks.”
My eyes widened. “Brains can crush peoples’ brains?”
“Yes, but he doesn’t like doing it,” said Triplet. “Too dangerous.”
I put a hand on my head. “But none of us have mental powers, so how are we supposed to stop him?”
Triplet looked at me with a grim smile. “Haven’t you wondered why it took so long to catch him? If we had known how to hurt him while he was intangible, he wouldn’t have lasted as long on the streets as he did.”
“Are you telling me that he’s basically—”
I was interrupted when I felt two hands close around my ankles. Looking down, I saw Phaser’s hands had phased out of the concrete floor and were wrapped tightly around my ankles like iron clamps. Phaser’s face suddenly appeared in the floor, a manic grin on his face.
“Got you,” said Phaser with a giggle.
Triplet immediately aimed his gun at my feet and fired. Phaser let go of my hands and vanished back into the floor, but Strike and I still had to dance away from the gunshot anyway to avoid getting bullets in our feet.
“Hey, watch where you shoot that thing!” I said, looking up at Triplet, who was already reloading his gun. “Nearly blew my feet off.”
“Sorry,” said Triplet, his eyes darting around. “I just didn’t want Phaser to drag you under. One of his favorite methods for killing his enemies was to drag them under the floor and then let them rematerialize once their heads were beneath it. Instant suffocation, in other words.”
I gulped and looked at my feet. “Are you telling me that we need to watch out for that?”
“Yep,” said Triplet. He suddenly glowed a golden color and two identical copies of himself appeared on either side. “Best way to make sure that doesn’t happen to you is to split up. And keep moving. Standing around looking like an idiot is a great way to get caught.”
Triplet and his thirds immediately began walking around the tunnel, each one carrying an identical pistol, while Strike and I also started to walk around. Despite the relative silence of the tunnel, my senses were on high alert. I especially paid attention to the floor, because if Phaser was trying to ‘drown’ us, then that was where he was going to show up.
Suddenly, Strike looked up and said, “Bolt, look out!”
I looked up just in time to see Phaser falling through the ceiling toward us. He tackled into both of us, knocking us flat off our feet. I managed to throw Phaser off me, but when he hit the floor, he immediately phased through it out of sight.
“Dang it,” I said, jumping to my feet and looking around again. “I didn’t know he was going to fall out of the ceiling, too.”
“Oh, yeah,” said one of Triplet’s Thirds, looking over at me from the other side of the tunnel, “you want to watch out for the ceiling, too. That was another favorite tactic of—”
Phaser’s hands suddenly appeared out of the wall behind the Third and grabbed his shoulders. Phaser then slammed the Third’s head into the back of the wall har
d enough to knock him unconscious, causing the Third to fall down onto the floor. The other two Thirds winced in pain, while Phaser’s face appeared in the stone wall with a manic grin on his face.
“Now, now, Mieko, I don’t need you telling your young friends all my secrets,” said Phaser. “If you do that, there won’t be any surprises left.”
The other two Thirds pointed their guns at Phaser, but he disappeared into the stone again before they could fire.
But he wasn’t gone for long. He suddenly fell out of the ceiling behind one Third and knocked him out with a single kick to the back of the head before diving back into the floor. The last Third—who had to be the original Triplet—took one step forward, but then Phaser jumped out of the floor in front of him and kicked him in the gut. The last Third gasped in pain before Phaser brought both of his hands down on the Third’s head, sending the last Third crashing to the floor, where he lay quite still with a trickle of blood coming out of his mouth.
“Trip!” I said. “No!”
I fired a lightning bolt at Phaser, but he quickly vanished into the floor before it hit him. I looked around again, searching for him, but Phaser was nowhere to be seen.
“I don’t like this,” I said, looking around. “He’s too fast, his powers are too strong, and—”
I was interrupted by a cry for help from Strike. Whirling around, I saw Strike lying on the floor, being slowly phased through the floor by Phaser. His ankles had disappeared, but his calves were already halfway there and soon his thighs and then his whole body would vanish if I didn’t do something quick.
I ran over and grabbed Strike’s hands. Getting a solid grip on them, I began pulling as hard as I could to save him.
“Don’t let go, Strike!” I said. “I got you! Just hang in there a little while longer and I’ll save you!”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Despite what I said, I wasn’t sure I could save him. Strike was now up to his thighs and soon he would be into the floor up to his waist. Once his head went under, there would be no saving him even with my super strength.